10:48 p.m.
Lungmen Guard Department Headquarters
Even though night had long fallen, the entire building was still brightly lit. From every floor came muffled, restless noise—low voices and hurried footsteps blending into an irritating hum.
"Sigh…"
After spending almost the whole day trapped in her office, Ch'en Hui-chieh let out a deep breath, tossed a thick stack of documents onto her desk, and rubbed at her faintly throbbing forehead.
"Ursus…"
Refugees, infected—countless people had been flooding into Lungmen in a frenzy. After the initial intake period, Lungmen had closed its gates.
But the measure had achieved little. People from the slums coordinated from the inside to bring outsiders in, while those left outside the walls protested day after day.
And whenever infected gathered in numbers, the pressure of it—the sheer visual impact—was enough to make anyone's scalp prickle.
"Yo. Still not going home? You're really dedicated."
The office door swung open. Swire strode in, dropped herself onto the sofa without the slightest ceremony, and stretched dramatically.
"Mmm—so tired. Seriously, when are we going to get this mess under control?"
"Unless Ursus settles down, the refugees will naturally return to their homes," Ch'en said, her brow tightening as she sat straighter and flipped open yet another set of proposals on how to handle the infected.
Some of the plans were wildly idealistic. Others were so harsh she couldn't accept them.
Swire twirled a curl around her finger, watching Ch'en's expression. Only after confirming Ch'en wasn't about to explode did she continue.
"That rat said the slums have already pushed the gangs into fighting each other—trying to cut their numbers down that way."
She spoke lightly, but her gaze stayed sharp.
"Sure, chaos like that might scare off people who want to force their way into Lungmen… but it's not a long-term solution. What did Chief Wei say?"
"…"
Ch'en kept her head down, turning pages without answering.
Swire immediately sensed the refusal and changed the subject.
"Fine, fine. Where's Hoshiguma? Where'd she run off to?"
"She couldn't sit still," Ch'en replied. "She took a team to the checkpoint to keep order."
Swire nodded in understanding.
Silence settled in again. Only the soft rasp of paper as Ch'en worked through the files filled the room.
Normally, when those two were alone, they'd trade at least a few barbs. But the workload had drained both of them of any appetite for arguing.
After studying Ch'en's tightly furrowed brow for a moment, Swire smiled faintly.
"By the way… how's Chen Mo doing lately?"
"…If it weren't for that Exusiai from Penguin Logistics, he'd be fine."
The combination of citywide crisis and her own brother's personal entanglements left Ch'en feeling especially short-tempered. She wanted to find time to sit Chen Mo down for a serious talk—and, in the meantime, keep constant watch against Exusiai making a move.
But in the short term, it wasn't happening.
Swire chuckled, leaning back against the sofa as if savoring this rare moment of rest.
"So you did find out after all. But why don't you try accepting Exusiai?"
As she spoke, she pointed at the blue long-brimmed hat resting neatly beside Ch'en's desk.
"Who knows—maybe your future family will even give you a hat too?"
"Spare me," Ch'en said flatly. "As long as she stays away from my brother, I won't go looking for trouble with her."
Without drawing attention to it, she slid the hat into a drawer and locked it, then stood as if to physically eject the source of that terrible suggestion.
"Your break is over, Char Siu Cat. Get out and—"
Knock knock.
"Officer Ch'en, someone's here to see you."
Cut off mid-sentence, Ch'en sat back down. Under Swire's delighted, gloating stare, she waved a hand impatiently.
"Send them in."
Please don't be more bad news. She was so tired she could—
"What's wrong, Ch'en? Who ticked you off?"
Ch'en's eyes widened slightly.
Chen Mo walked in smiling, raising the dinner he'd brought.
"Why don't you eat first and cool off?"
Before Ch'en could react, Swire swept in with shining eyes and happily took the food container from him.
"Yes, yes! Chen Mo, you're basically the ideal househusband—honestly, if anyone ever got to marry you, they'd—"
Thump!
Ch'en snatched the container back in one motion and, for good measure, tapped Swire on the back of the head. The corner of her mouth lifted—just barely.
"Thanks. Also, staying up late is bad for your skin. Go back and rest. Now."
"You bastard dragon—what kind of sister kicks people out the second your brother shows up?"
Swire rubbed the spot she'd been hit, pouting. Her eyes flicked to the dinner in Ch'en's hands with pure envy.
"Seriously… why isn't Chen Mo my brother? What's so great about you, you repressed rice-noodle dragon?"
Chen Mo planted his hands on his hips, proud as anything. His thick tail swayed happily behind him.
"Can't help it. Ch'en's luck is cracked—she pulled me, a limited six-star."
Ch'en's face cooled as she saw Chen Mo and Swire gearing up to banter endlessly. She started physically herding Swire toward the door.
"Get back to work, Char Siu Cat. Stop wasting time in my office."
"Oh, so you're ditching friends the moment your brother shows up—why you—"
Bang.
The door shut, sealing Swire's furious shouting outside.
With the irritating tiger finally gone, Ch'en turned—
—and found Chen Mo already seated in her chair, utterly at home, flipping through the documents on her desk with evident interest.
"This workload is insane," he said casually. "No wonder you didn't show up to lecture me tonight."
He kept rummaging right in front of her, bold as daylight.
And he still wasn't finding what he wanted—nothing about Chernobog, nothing that matched.
Ch'en, resigned, carried her meal over to the sofa Swire had occupied and sat down.
"If you want," she said evenly, "I can start lecturing you right now."
"Forget it," Chen Mo replied. "Your work comes first say."
Still not finding anything, he scratched one horn, then looked up—eyes landing on Ch'en as she ate in silence.
Right. No need to dig through paper.
Just ask.
"Oh—Ch'en," he said lightly. "Do you know why those infected from Ursus came to Lungmen?"
Ch'en's chopsticks paused midair. She set them down, lifted her head, and fixed him with a hard stare.
"You still want to get involved in this? No. After you went into the slums on your own, I already—"
"No, no," Chen Mo cut in quickly. "I'm just asking. I don't want overtime."
He leaned back into the still-warm leather chair, sensing her tone soften slightly, and pressed while he could.
"Come on. Satisfy your big brother's curiosity."
"…Brother," Ch'en said with a sigh, "when are you going to have even a little of the quiet elegance a man should have?"
"Maybe if you tell me, I'll learn it," he shot back, shameless.
Ch'en exhaled again. With Chen Mo, it was always difficult to refuse outright.
"Most of them escaped from Chernobog in Ursus," she said. "I heard that recently, a noble there accidentally let information slip."
Still eating as she explained, she clearly didn't notice the intent behind his questions. After swallowing, she added:
"The refugees say the city is about to be hit by a Catastrophe—and that some vicious infected organization is going to attack it. With those two disasters looming, they panicked and ran here."
"That organization is called Reunion." Ch'en's tone sharpened. "If you ever see them, remember: don't get too close."
Then, still not satisfied, she reinforced it with pointed seriousness:
"Chen Mo—absolutely, absolutely do not make contact with them. I don't want you getting hurt. Not even a little."
"Mhm, mhm. Sure. No problem."
His words were obedient.
His eyes—turning, calculating, already plotting—were anything but.
------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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